DEREK VAN DIEST, QMI Agency

The Edmonton Oilers forward is having the type of season he’d rather forget.

On Monday, Brule was back on the ice with his teammates, although it’s unlikely he’ll be able to play Tuesday against the Los Angles Kings having suffered a concussion just over two weeks ago.

“That’s just the way the season has been going,” said Brule. “Not just for me, but for everyone. It seems that we can never get out of these injury problems.”

Brule was injured when he took a run at defenceman Kris Letang late in a 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 13.

The hit sent both players sprawling to the ice and earned Brule a charging penalty.

“I can’t believe I got a penalty for it. They’re taking the fun out of the game,” Brule said. “I thought it was a legal hit. It was clean, I didn’t hit him in the head, but we both got hurt from it.

“It happened so quick, and when I hit him, I was woozy right away. I don’t even remember falling when I hit him. I watched the replay and it looks like I might have hit my head on the boards. I don’t think that’s when it happened though.”

Brule was unable to serve his minor penalty, and instead, had to leave the game to receive medical attention. He hasn’t been in the lineup since, missing the next five games.

“Right away I felt a little off-balanced and my head was rattled for sure,” Brule said. “I couldn’t skate very well, so I just went to the bench and got to the room right away.

“Right after the game I was feeling pretty bad. And from the bus to the plane I wasn’t feeling very good. But once I got on the plane, I relaxed and slept for a bit. I felt pretty good once I got off.”

Due to an ankle injury and then a bout with the flu, Brule has only been able to play in 39 games this season. He has seven goals and two assists on the year.

Even though he’s not expected to get into the lineup Tuesday, he will travel with the team when the head off on a two game road trip, starting with a game against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.

“This is my first concussion,” Brule said. “I wouldn’t say it was really bad, it was sort of mild, but it was lingering. I didn’t want to come back and make it worse, kind of like Sidney Crosby did. He came back too early and was then out even longer.”